Two Worlds (Part 1)

Disclaimer: this story was inspired by a taengsic story that i have read before. The title was 'Wish' but sadly, I forgot who wrote it so i wasn't able to get in touch with the writer. However, i don't intend to plagiarise their work as this story will be different from 'Wish'.

Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she stared at his eyes. His eyes that used to gaze at her as if she's the only person in the world; those eyes that were filled with only love and longing for her, were now emotionless and cold. "Don't leave," she pleaded, her voice almost inaudible from despair.

"I'm sorry." He looked away and harshly pulled his hand away from her firm grip. But she wasn't going to let go, she held him tighter. "Look, we're just not for each other. I have to go, I'm sincerely sorry."

With her fingers gradually losing hold on him, she had no choice but to accept it. To let him go.

"CUT!!"

Byul wiped away her tears as the director continuously tossed "Good job's" on the staff. Instead of bowing like everyone was doing, Byul quickly left the scene. "Sohee, let's go." She groaned in annoyance at her manager. With that cue, her staff began following her footsteps, muttering very silently to each other.

"Why is she in a bad mood again?" One of the stylists whispered to Sohee, the manager.

The other stylist who heard her just swallowed the lump in . It was her first day as Byul's assistant stylist and it was seriously nerve-wrecking. It seemed as if everyone who was working for her was terrified. What if she messed up?

"Isn't she always in a bad mood? Let's just hurry up!"

Everyone gathered inside Byul's tent. All of them were busy doing their assigned jobs. Some of the stylists were fixing her wardrobe while the others were fixing her make-up. It's been a long, tiring day. It's not only physically draining but also emotionally and mentally exhausting. She had been acting since early that morning and looking at her reflection in the mirror, she felt like she didn't know herself anymore.

Who was that girl in the mirror, looking empty and shallow?

Byul sighed, agitated as she leaned back on the chair as her make-up artist continued to erase her make-up for her. She intended to take a brief sleep before her next schedule when she suddenly felt her eye stinging. "YAH!" She stood up, pointing a finger at the stylist. Her eye was red from the sting of the make-up remover.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Miss Byul... I - " The stylist wasn't able to complete her sentence as her tears couldn't help but to fall from her eyes.

Byul put her hands on her hips, looking down as she tried to calm herself down. The image of the girl crying further irritating her. The staff just stared at them, sympathising to the girl but they wouldn't dare talk and go against Byul. "Crying? Seriously? What, because I shouted at you?" The girl continued quivering under her piercing gaze. Byul walked dangerously close to her, but the girl stayed rooted. "Get the hell out of my sight and never show your stupid face again to me." She whispered menacingly.

The girl slowly looked up at her, scared and hesitant. But in the end, she bowed her head and scurried away from the tent.

Byul turned towards her staff as if nothing happened. "What? Are you all gonna stand there or do you want me to fire all of you as well?"

--

Byul just had the worst week of her life. Her schedules were packed until midnight that she only had six hours of sleep in the whole week. But worse than that, she fired three people already from her team. Just why were there people that just couldn't their job properly? It wasn't even that hard to remove make-up or fix her hair!

She plopped herself down on her bed. She hated her job. She just hated everything about it. But what could she do now? Now that everyone in South Korea already knew her face, her family, her everything.She's so tired of people prying on her private life; so tired of pretending to be someone she's not; so tired of being scrutinised every single second of her life.

She wished that she could be in another universe where she's not the Byul everyone knew. She wished to be Byulyi, an ordinary citizen of South Korea.

Byul began to get ready for sleep. Wearing a comfortable pair of pyjamas, she plopped down on the bed, sighing.

She was ten years old when she played the main role in a school musical. It was a lot of fun; she felt so good as she watched the crowd on their feet, applauding their performance. However what made it much more special were the tears flowing down from her parents' eyes. They were so proud of her – their eldest daughter.

At that moment, Byulyi decided that she loved doing this. She loved making people entertained, and especially her parents being proud of her. Byulyi decided to pursue a career. She started to dream about becoming a star that many people would look up to.

Only after a year, an entertainment company saw how much potential she has and decided to recruit her. They managed to get Byulyi a big role, and she didn't even realise it when she started to become the new rising star. At twelve years old, Byulyi became Byul, a star that everyone in her country loves, the star that everyone looks up to, just like what she dreamed for.

Byul had the passion for acting, she didn't care about fame, she just wanted to make people happy.

Until everything started going downhill. Her career as a superstar was still as stable as she first started. She still kept receiving TV guestings, drama roles, film roles, etcetera. However, Byul lost her motivation. She spent too much time working that she forgot her family. The least she could do was to call them once in two months. She only kept on giving them money, assuming it's enough, that she was doing her role as the eldest daughter.

She realised all of this when her sister died from a heart disease she wasn't even aware of. She talked to her parents, fuming, asking why they didn't let her know.

Thei